The 1942 Siege of Malta was an incredible, against-the-odds triumph for England's Royal Air Force and a small band of Canadian fliers. Historians have often compared this campaign to another epic stand--the Battle of Britain.

Popular military historian Dan McCaffery has written a lively new account of one of the most exciting victories of the Second World War. Looking at the nine-month period in 1942 when the Axis powers decided to invade Malta, McCaffery describes the way Allied submarines and bombers operating from the tiny island effectively controlled shipping in the Mediterranean. Allied forces eventually became so successful at sinking passing enemy ships that supplies for German Field Marshal Rommel were threatened. In retaliation, Hitler and Mussolini decided to starve and bomb Malta out of the war.

McCaffery captures the tension of the devastating offensive, bringing to life all the key events of the battle from the March Blitz to the final Allied victory in October. The heroic exploits of air aces Buzz Beurling, Wally McLeod, Moose Fumerton, and John Williams are described in colourful detail. Aviation history and military history fans will not want to miss this fascinating new account of the important role played by Canadians in one of the most exciting campaigns of World War Two.

DAN McCAFFERY is one of Canada's most successful military aviation history writers. He was born in Sarnia, Ontario, where he graduated from the the Journalism Program at Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology. He worked for the Sarnia Gazette, a weekly newspaper, from 1974 to 1989 as a reporter and later as editor. Since 1989 he has worked at the daily newspaper the Sarnia Observer where he is currently the assignment editor. He has won three Canadian News Awards, two Ontario News Awards and a Western Ontario News Award.

He is the author of Hell Island: Canadian Pilots and the 1942 Air Battle for Malta, Billy Bishop: Canadian Hero, Air Aces, Battlefields in the Air, Canadian Warplanes and Bush Planes and Bush Pilots. McCaffery and his wife Val have been married for 28 years.

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